What's behind India's Internet censorship?

We have been posting a lot about the challenges facing the
Internet in India recently--see Mannika Chopra's "India
struggles to cope with growing Internet penetration." On Tuesday, Angela
Saini, a guest blogger on The Guardian's
Comment Is Free site, posted "Internet
censorship could damage India's democracy," with the subhead "Google and Facebook have been asked to
remove offensive content, but it's not just out of a fear of stoking religious
hatred." Saini makes the point that the official resistance to the increasing
penetration of the Internet goes beyond fears of religious or ethnic violence:

The simple answer might be that this is a state that has
suffered religious violence in the past, and it's just trying to keep the peace
by taking down some hateful material. It is the kind of censorship that, while
not ideal for freedom for speech, quite a few Indians could buy into. Look a
bit deeper, though, and the reality is more insidious. The loudest
pro-censorship calls among politicians seem to be reserved for websites that
are about them. Their aim appears to be not just to censor the dangerous stuff,
but to polish the government's image, too.

Saini, based in London, maintains a wide-ranging
site called Nothing
shocks me, I'm a scientist. Her
book about the rise of India as a scientific superpower, Geek Nation, was recently released.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.

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